过年How?: Fish Dumplings and Thesis Procrastination With Kente & Silk Co-Founder Miatta Momoh
We quiz some long-term Beijingers on how they intend to spend this year's Chinese New Year and hopefully uncover some horror stories along the way. 过年 How, y'all?
Miatta Momoh is a busy lady. The London-born Sierra Leonean has called Beijing home for three years and is already a well-known figure in the community, both for her role as co-founder and business development manager of Kente & Silk, a social enterprise changing the status-quo of Africa-China relations, as well as co-founder of the busy WeChat group Women in Media.
We managed to catch Momoh in the lead up to CNY to talk about how she plans to 过年!
What does your average CNY entail?
Living in Beijing is really one big adventure and no two days are the same, so none of my Chinese New Year’s experiences have been similar enough for an average tale. But one of my best Chinese New Year’s memories was actually made outside Beijing in Guilin and Shanglin. A friend from church invited me to spend time with her family, who warmly embraced me like a close relative for three weeks. I explored luminous caves, ate copious amounts of Guilin noodles, learned Shanglin’s local dialect (that I had forgotten by the time I returned to Beijing) and stood in awe of a whole village that came together to play a community basketball match. I was not agile enough to climb the fence to see all the game action that afternoon but the atmosphere, amongst fireworks being set-off at every corner, was literally heartwarmingly electric!
Where are you headed this year?
This year I’ll be working in Beijing and volunteering at my Church. Kente & Silk will be planning Beijing Africa Week 3.0 which will run from May 23-29 this year. It will be exciting to see how two years of insights inspire us to create this next edition of “celebrating Africa in China.” We will also be organizing another Africa-China Community Brunch with Caravan on Jan 26. With this second special dining experience at Caravan, we hope to engage those that stay in a deserted Beijing with great chat and great food.
I will also be volunteering at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship ZGC’s Engage 2020 Conference. This is a two-week program split into two sections; “Entrusted with the Gospel” and “Kairos Course.” I am looking forward to spending quality time in community, learning and inevitably eating delicious home-baked cakes at the conference. I can’t cook or bake so this is always an added bonus!
How will CNY this year be different?
Last year I was also in Beijing and I had a very chilled break staying with a family friend. I think this year will offer an eclectic mix of learning, working and playing in Beijing. Apart from what I have already mentioned, I don’t have many plans set so I am looking forward to a couple of spontaneous activities too.
Have you ever experienced a 'nightmare' CNY?
When I was studying at Peking University everyone frantically warned me to leave Beijing over the holiday. This was mainly due to the fact that the campus was on total shutdown and there was not a single canteen left open. When it was time to face my thesis I thought that this was actually the dream environment to write it up and it was not a Chinese New Year nightmare after all. However, we were all wrong. I still was able to procrastinate and realized that there are always ways to do something enjoyable and distracting in Beijing. I particularly love traveling through it’s 'Ghost Town' environment over the holiday. It’s a nice break from the busyness of Beijing. It’s also great to connect with Beijinger or Beijing bound friends over this time.
Which dishes or drinks do you particularly look forward to gorging on every year?
I was impressed by the art of homemade rice wine that was demonstrated by my friend’s father and uncle in Shanglin. They had managed to fill huge jars that were half the size of me and they had literally been fermenting since the last Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year in the south also brought a whole new perspective on eating zongzi and dumplings. I helped to make my first fish dumplings that were almost the size of my head and they were very hao chi indeed. Their delicious taste was further eaten enhanced with the best chili condiment ever. Meat zongzi were also a very pleasant surprise from Shanglin and they became a new preference over the sweet version served up in Beijing.
Any tips for avoiding the excesses of eating and drinking during Chinese New Year?
Dine and dash! It’s not as bad as it sounds, but genuinely wisdom I treasured from my first “xinnian kuaile,” and perfect if you’re invited to a Chinese family dinner and you are too full to eat any more food (after a big feast). I was taught to eat what I could, but an empty plate and telling your host that you’re finished eating is not enough to stop being served food. In fact, this is probably seen as the complete opposite. So, dine, and then dash: literally, get up and leave the table with a polite thank you and a smile.
Got any tips on how to deflect those awkward family questions?
Maybe you could suggest taking a long walk after a large dinner? If you’re too stuffed to move fast after a feast you’ll probably all be too full to talk about anything that requires much energy and deep thought.
If there’s one thing you could change about CNY, what would it be?
Nothing really comes to mind. Maybe a quicker draw on the spontaneous hongbaos that are everywhere on WeChat.
What do you predict the Year of the Rat holds for you?
Ha. I am still convinced it’s the Year of the Mouse as I am seeing Micky and Minnie everywhere. I predict I’ll see more from them, characters that look like them and Tom & Jerry too before this year is done. Kente & Silk will also be trying to develop more interesting Africa-China activities and warmly welcome fresh ideas and volunteers to come with us on this journey. You can email us at info@kenteandsilk.com if you want to know more.
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Images: Kofi Ghana, courtesy of Miatta Momoh
